. . . the playing and singing of the Coro ed Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino are the solid foundations upon which this "Aida" rises. The choristers' singing is unfailingly energetic . . . the choral singers acquit themselves admirably, and their work is supplemented by the orchestra's vibrant playing . . . The oboe and clarinet phrases in "O patria mia" are lovingly rendered, and the wind playing is exemplary throughout the performance . . . tenor Juan José de León brings bright, focused tone . . . [soprano Maria Katzarava] voices the Sacerdotessa's exotically melodic "Possente, possente Fthà" marvelously, the garnet timbre of her voice and her unaffected diction striking precisely the right chord of reverent mystery. Her muted repetition of "Immenso, immenso Fthà" in the opera's final scene is equally ethereal . . . This "Aida" reaps the rewards of the participation of two basses who defy the trend by singing strongly and solidly . . . [Giuseppini sings il re d'Egitto and delivers] a flinty account of "Su! del Nilo al sacro lido" . . . [Colombara] declaims "Gloria ai Numi! Ognun rammenti ch'essi reggono gli eventi" with authority, and his singing of "Ascolta, o Re: tu pure, giovine eroe, saggio consiglio, ascolta" exudes ruthlessness . . . Colombara's performance is not subtle, but neither is the character he depicts. Like Giuseppini, he impresses as much with what his singing lacks as with what it possesses . . . baritone Ambrogio Maestri is a scrupulously musical Amonasro . . . his performance is assertive, bold, and legitimately Italianate. Most importantly, Maestri is the rare Amonasro who sings as well as he snarls . . . From the start of his stentorian recitative "Se quel guerriero io fossi! se il mio sogno si avverasse!" in Act One, Bocelli's crystalline Italian diction is splendid, and he is punctilious in refraining from forcing his voice in the famous aria "Celeste Aida" . . . the tenor voices "Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida" with roiling ardor, and he phrases "Sovra una terra estrania teco fuggir dovrei!" amorously . . . Bocelli clearly relishes the exposed top As on "Sacerdote, io resto a te" at the act's end, hurling the notes out with abandon . . . Bocelli's painstaking commitments to both music and text are irreproachable . . . Veronica Simeoni depicts an emotional but curiously subdued Amneris . . . Like Bocelli, the mezzo-soprano performs her lines in the large ensembles with finely-judged tone and excellent diction . . . this Amneris is most moving in the hushed, guilt-ridden pleas for absolution in the opera's final scene. Simeoni here clearly understands and reacts to Amneris's emotions, and her singing pulses with sincerity . . . Kristin Lewis is a conflicted, often beautifully-sung Aida who comes frustratingly close to unmitigated success in this mercilessly demanding rôle . . . Visually, Lewis is the equal of the most glamorous, fetchingly beautiful Aidas in the opera's history . . . she rockets into "O patria mia." Her heartfelt, "mezza voce" performance of the aria, capped with a secure, superbly-sustained top C, grants the number the introspective core Verdi surely intended it to have . . . Lewis then returns every volley lobbed at her by Maestri in the scene with Amonasro, furnishing some ecstatic top notes . . . spellbinding . . . [Lewis's phrasing in "O terra, addio; addio valle di pianti" is delicate,] her sparkling top B-flats soaring above the gossamer orchestral textures . . . With such an iron grasp on the part at this juncture in her career, Lewis has the skills necessary to blossom from this auspicious performance into the sort of Aida for which opera lovers long.